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Underdog role suits Webb just fine

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JUPITER, Fla. -- Playing the underdog role is perfectly fine with Ryan Webb, whose youthful team started Spring Training on Tuesday with low expectations.

"A lot of people are writing us off early and stuff like that," said Webb, a candidate to earn a spot as a right-handed setup man. "That's great. We've got a talented group of guys. When you go out there and people don't expect much from you, you tend to perform better and surprise a bunch of people. I think that's what we're kind of looking at this year. That's kind of exciting."

Webb appeared in 65 games a year ago, going 4-3 with a 4.03 ERA in 60 1/3 innings, and will factor into the back of the bullpen.

"It's definitely exciting when we've got a bunch of talented young guys together," Webb said. "You take the pressure off, and that's when guys do big things. I think you can definitely expect to see some people step up and do some really exciting things this year."